Introducing HTC U Play and U Ultra

News

HTC’s brand new smartphones revealed in online stream

HTC has lifted the curtain on two brand new smartphones, HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra. The two new smartphones come to light over a month before the world’s biggest telecomm conference, Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona.

Both smartphones boast a couple of innovative new technologies from the Taiwanese mobile brand, namely Sense Companion and USonic (more below).

We can’t wait to get our hands on them, but this is what we know for now...

HTC U Play

The smaller of the two devices is called U Play, featuring a 5.2-inch Full HD display and refined ‘liquid surface’ design. The colour scheme looks as little bit like oil does in water, reflecting various colours depending on how the light catches it.

This phone is going to be big news for selfie fans, with a powerful front-facing lens that lets you shoot in either high res, at 16MP, or using HTC’s light-absorbing camera technology, UltraPixel. You can easily switch between the two with a quick swipe, with UltraPixel mode being four times more sensitive to light.

If that’s not enough, there’s also a secondary 16MP camera on the back of the phone with optical image stabilisation (OIS) to level out any shaky videos.

Under the hood there's 32GB of internal storage, 3GB RAM, and a sizeable 2,500mAh battery cell.

HTC U Ultra

The larger U Ultra has two displays. The main one measures 5.7-inches Quad HD, while the smaller secondary display sits horizontally along the top of the phone to make sure you don’t miss a notification.

Camera-wise, the same 16MP front-facing lens that features on the U Play is on board. And on the back there’s a 12MP sensor, offering reduced blur with the super speedy autofocus, and bigger pixels for better evening photography. HTC claim the camera on the U Ultra is the best mobile camera they've ever made.

HTC Sense Companion

Now, about those other special features we mentioned earlier…

Sense Companion is HTC’s brand new artificial intelligence, which "learns from U" tells HTC. It’ll remind you to pack your umbrella before heading out if rain is forecast, and you can even ask it to book you a table at your favourite restaurant.

How this will work alongside Google Now - generally available on all recent Android smartphones - is yet to be determined, but it’s exciting that there’s another virtual assistant on the market. HTC has told us that Sense Companion will learn from its owner over time, offering a more personalised experience the more you use it.

HTC USonic

HTC recognises that everyone has their music preferences and enjoys music differently. “Every person’s inner ear is as unique as their fingerprint,” explains the press release. “HTC USonic analyzes [sic] your inner ears with a sonic pulse, and then adapts to you.”

The technology works through the USB Type-C port, and sounds like it’ll be a big help in finding that perfect sound.

At the moment, there’s a bit of a question mark over whether or not the new software will come with U Play. HTC, however, guarantee that the exciting features are “available for download in 2017.”